The statute that barred a NATO withdrawal, and the reason five officials lost their jobs.
There is no kill switch. There is something slower and more complete: the sustainment pipeline. Cut ODIN, expire the crypto keys, embargo the engines, and sixty percent of Europe's F-35 fleet stops flying in three weeks.
At 03:00 on a Friday, engineers at Wright-Patterson revoke access for five allied air forces. By 08:30 GMT the maintenance consoles at RAF Marham start timing out.
The General Counsel, the Comptroller, and the Judges Advocate General of three services are escorted out of the building by 16:00. Acting loyalists take the disbursement desks. The funds move that evening.
Today I removed five officials from the Department of Defense who decided that their signature was more important than my order. They were not elected. I was. The Constitution gives the command of the armed forces to one person and it is not the Comptroller. F…
Confirmed: the DoD General Counsel, the Under Secretary (Comptroller), and the Judges Advocate General of the Army, Navy and Air Force were removed this evening. Escorted out. Acting appointments already named. All five had entered statutory non-compliance fin…
Today I removed five officials from the Department of Defense who decided that their signature was more important than my order. — Written statement, the White House
"They were not elected. I was." I teach civics. That sentence is the argument every strongman in the textbook makes, word for word, in every language, and my students are going to hear it tonight from their own president. I have to teach the chapter on checks …
To be clear about what happened tonight: the law did not fail. The law was enforced by five people, and the five people were removed. A constraint that depends on a removable signature is a constraint on the signatory.
Or — and hear me out — unelected officials spent six days blocking the Commander in Chief and he removed them, which is a power he has always had and every president has used. You are allowed to hate it. Calling it a coup because the paperwork went the way you…